12 Dec 2008

Tens of thousands affected by king tides on PNG northern coast, island provinces

2:06 pm on 12 December 2008

The Papua New Guinea Government has allocated 19 million US dollars for relief efforts for the parts of the northern coast swamped by recent tidal surges.

The Post Courier newspaper says about seven million dollars has been immediately released to the National Disaster and Emergency Services to help people in the affected areas.

It reports that in New Ireland Province more than 50,000 people are affected.

The Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare, says many homes and villages in that province, and Manus, Bougainville, East and West Sepik and parts of Madang have been badly damaged.

There have also been reports of damage from Morobe.

Three hotels in Wewak, in East Sepik - the Windjammer, the Airport Hotel and GalaLodge - have been inundated by sea water.

One child was killed by waves in Wewak earlier this week.